Things I am Thankful for in 2006

• I am thankful for my friend V who let me spend this gluttonous holiday with her and her family. The food was excellent and she prepared it using my first sewing project - the apron. Here are some "America's Next Top Model" shots for you.

No, she does not normally practice ballet while cooking.
The camera makes people do crazy things

• I am thankful for all the food that we were blessed to have on this day. I was especially thankful that V's mother cooked greens which is a very southern, african american food that just rings in the holidays for me. She made a good pot of collards and candied yams to go with it. MAN!! I am hungry again just thinking about it.

I could only get one set of models to look at a time


Look at all that great food and that wasn't even half of it!

• I am thankful for all my family and friends that presumably forgave the fact that I was so late in calling them for the customary well wishing on this holiday of thanks. I am so bad at this that I have to call my brother today, the day AFTER Thanksgiving because my cell phone ran out...or at least that is the excuse and I am sticking with it!
  

• I am also thankful for yet another year of good health - minus the two months of bronchitus that I am still not over - and the great things that I have accommoplished both in life and craft :O)

• Last but not least I am thankful for all you who read and comment so often in my blog. It is amazing that you can build such a community nowadays without ever meeting those you begin to know and love as cyber family and friends.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and look forward to reading about all your holiday treats.

Giving Thanks the Knitter's way

Today I am giving thanks for all the things, including those things knitterly. Since the last time we spoke I...

Finished my snake skin (a.k.a. Mermaid gloves). I will have to give more detail and better pictures when I have time, a photographer other than self-timer, and adequate sunlight. In the meantime here is one:

I also started my first socks, which is the every popular Jaywalkers. I got some Vesper Sock Yarn in Knit and Tonic last week so I was so eager to start. Here is a picture of my sock in the Denver airport

since this picture I worked another 4.5" into the pattern, ripped it out because it was way too big (I am using the extended pattern sized because my feet are so big) and have reknit about 2" into the pattern again. My heart bled when I had to rip but this yarn was too expensive not to.

And here is a picture of the snow capped mountains in Denver. They are beautiful, but I do not like the cold.

Which brings me to the subject of how freaking cold it is here in Tampa, Florida where I will be spending my Thanksgiving. It was 55 degrees when I got here! It seems as though the cold snap happened the morning of my arrival. I guess I wished too hard for the weather to not be hot and humid. Instead I have been bundled up for 3 days now.

I will be back with some Thanksgiving pictures tomorrow. Have a great Turkey Day.

Meet my SnB

These are the moments that make me REALLY miss being in Berkeley, Portland, Long Beach, or any other place with a semblance of culture (a.k.a. not Orange County)

In my last post I mentioned that I got a new camera. My old point and shoot was not completely dead but it was having problems with opening and closing the lens. This had been going on since July and finally I had to say enough. Especially since I will be going to Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday to visit a friend and don't always like bringing by big DSLR everywhere.

So, my new photographic baby is the Canon SD700IS. Man this things is great. I did a lot of research before I chose my camera. Now it is not the latest version, which incidentally is SD900, but it was the one that suited my particular photographic needs. The selling point for me were, the Image Stabilizer (IS), the 4xOptical zoom - since I normally zoom out as opposed to taking wide shots, and the price - about $100 buck cheaper than the other models.

Since this is a knitting blog - I already have a photography blog - I decided to stretch my new camera's wings at my SnB meeting. Along with the photos at the start of the entry, in which I used the very cool color accent feature, the ones below will show you what the camera can do and also will give you an idea of why I travel 30 minutes from my house to the Long Beach SnB instead of going 5 minutes to the one by my house. The sacrifices I make for diversity and knitting.

Our SnB Cafe Called Viento y Agua

Cafe w/o and with flash

Nubian Craftster Gets a New Look

I have moved over to Blogger BETA and with that comes its fair share of problems and new cool discoveries. Since I am very HTML deficient I have to rely on the kindness of Blogger hacks to make my site a little more presentable.

I will try and make the random Bloglines updates as minimal as possible, but since I am a newbie to this whole system I can't guarantee anything.

Knitwise - I hope to have some finished object pictures of the Lizard Skins (a.k.a Mermaid Gloves) taken from my new camera this weekend.

Material Girl

...and I am living in a material world as I am a collector. Of what you say? Of just about everything. Not to the extent that people will see newspapers piled to the ceiling when I die (it would actually be more like magazines anyway), but I do have a sizable collection of things that are either past or present hobbies/loves/future careers. I will give you a peak into the madness. Please be warned that quantities viewed in pictures are only a fraction of the true extent of the problem..I mean collection

You all know I stash yarn...I am a knitter for God's sake! I would not be able to hold my head up in blogger land without a stash bordering on S.A.B.L.E (Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.

So I guess I also have C.A.R.E.S (Cookbooks Approaching Ridiculous Eating Standards). Here is a small glimpse of my cookbooks and magazines that I acquired during my desire to be a cook. I loved cooking but it just did not pay the bills.



P.A.L.M.S(Photography Love Accentuating Material Stashing). Here is a little of my photo magazine and book collection. PDN is such a great trade magazine. I took classes after college and continue to take classes on and off to improve my skills. I have been kicking around the idea of going back to get my Associates/Bachelors in Photography. Still thinking on that though.



So there should be no surprise that I have contracted F.A.U.N.A.S (Fabric Acquired Under New Addiction Stimulus). Since I am rapidly approaching the end of my sewing class, with only one more class to go, I thought I would show you a WIP picture of my sewing.

Look at those stitches...on a curve no less!! Given I was sewing as slow as a molasses after my debacle on the second day of class but man am I proud.

I have been web/blog surfing and finding new sewing ideas but of course this requires a machine. I hope to squash my urge for a machine by using my mom's old White Sewing Machine until I decide if this is a permanent addiction. But the true addiction is the fabric.



Such wonderful colors and patterns. There was a 30% off sale at my local craft store and I bought these beauties, along with In Stitches by Amy Butler which has seemingly easy patterns for the beginning seamstress. I should break out my badge now for my support group

"Hi my name is NubianCraftster and I have a problem. I am a chronic collector..."

Giving You The Finger

Ummm...sorry posted that on accident before it was ready so for all of you bloggers who are deeply offended by my title there is more to the story...just wait a moment while I continue to write

So here is my first finger ever...



I have made fingerless gloves before, which I now think should be called digit less gloves, but I never had to actually make fingers for them. Of course I had to pick a lace pattern to try and figure this part out. I thank goodness for craftoholics roadmap for this glove, but was still a little shy when it came to the thumb gusset and the fingers. This procrastination, I mean foresight helped me to cast on for the second glove before finishing the first. Therefore, I am soooooo close to finishing both of these I can taste it. And man do I want the glory of a FO so I can start something else. I already have visions of the Knit 2 Together Doctor's Bag or a pair of worsted weight Rapunzel socks...or maybe I should get started on some of that xmas knitting with only 46 more days to go.

Ok back to the gloves....

Dear SP9 Pal...Thanks for Bringing on the Baking

Dear SP9,

The Package

I received a notice of your package in my mailbox on Monday and was uber excited, so excited I stayed home until the 9am pickup time from the Post Office. I was subsequently late for work but it was worth it. The first thing I saw was the wonderful stickers. They were great to see especially because I am missing Oakland, my old home town in Northern California, so the Golden Gate sticker brought on a bit of nostalgia.

Inside were some great gifts. Loved everything, especially the cup, tea cloth (featured in back), the yarn and soap. Uhh...Everything in fact.

The Result

I was inspired by all the great gifts that I had to put them to immediate use. So today I set about baking. Which consisted of baking Banana Bread and Double Chocolate Muffins.

I especially like making Banana Bread because it was one of the first recipes I tried to perfect. The technique that I like to do to make the batter a little less dense is to separate the yolk and whites of the eggs, beat the white into a soft meringue and then fold them back into the batter. This make a lighter, more cakey bread which I prefer.

Today I was too lazy to beat the whites or bring down the KitchenAid mixer so I just made regular Banana Walnut Bread. The bread was good and I had a piece with green tea in my new cup (I was out of earl grey which I was craving and would have been great with this bread).

Second item, because I was in the baking mood were the Double Chocolate Muffins courtesy of Ghiradelli Muffin Mix. My best friend got me hooked on these puppies. I finally got around to making them for myself because they were looking at me from my cabinet as I pulled out the flour for the Banana Bread. So I said "what the hell" and whip them up too.

Lastly, I shower using my new soap, you can see the pictures here...just kidding no picture of that but it smells really good and is 82% organic. I can hear my environmentalist best friend thanking you now.

Now what to make with the lovely super soft Merino Wool that was also included?? If you or anyone else has an idea for my 175 yards of pure joy, don't hesitate to comment. Until then I will have to sleep with the yarn...in a "just friends sort of way"...Geesh the minds of knitters.

Anyway, thanks for all the great gifts and inspiration

Your SP9 Spoilee

Umm...Maybe I Will Stick to Knitting

So you know that post a few weeks ago where I talked about being a Perfectionist as it applies to me. You know where I worry about doing things because I think I will not be good at it. Well...my fears of sewing were slightly confirmed. For reference in this story here is the pattern, maybe not so aptly names Kwik Sew (I wonder if this will be like the Lion Brands One Hour Scarf that took me a week plus when I first started knitting).

(Here is the specific pattern I am attempting to do)

Now to compound my Perfectionist nature, I am also competitive, a bit of an overachiever and very rule oriented. Now don't get me wrong, I am flexible and creative in my own right, but before I go adding my two cents to inventing the wheel, I want to do it right the first time, you know the way it was intended and then expand from there.

Anyway, back to the sewing. So the class is quite full with only one teacher for 12 deeply dependent students. We got right to work on the pinning of the pattern, then the marking of the pocket and then the cutting. This is where my sewing actually ended because the next hour and half was spent felling kinda dumb.

The teacher showed us how to thread the bobbins which was pretty cool, but when it came to my machine it was different, so she threaded it for me. Then she threaded the machine which was far more loops around this and that for me to have caught on anyway. Next I began to sew, I put my fabric in and slowly pressed the peddle. I WAS SEWING!!!! For all of 4 stitches because subsequently my machine jammed and ate my fabric. I was horrified!! My fellow student turned around and within seconds figured out my error and lowered my pressure foot. But by then it was too late. I called the teacher over who was already pretty overworked with the students and she began to fiddle with it. About 5 minutes later I was told to ditch this machine for another one and start again.

Well remember that whole thing about the teacher doing all the threading? Well, I proceeded to wait for another 30 minutes for her to get back to me for help. She set me up and wallah....I had to pressure foot on this machine (guess I can't have the same error if I don't even HAVE a pressure foot this time). So we quickly find a foot, she threads my machine, I run a line of stitches and the class was over. 2.5 hours of sewing resulted in a cut, pinned and marked pattern with 4 stitches on a practice piece of fabric.

Man, talk about trailing the pack. I felt like I hit every hurdle at the Olympic race. BUT!!! I tell myself that this is BEGINNING sewing, I am supposed to make all these stupid mistakes..right? RIGHT?!! Given I think I should be sewing quilts like Kaffet Fasset by now, but in the world of realistic expectations, I now know PRESSURE FOOT DOWN!!!

So I licked my wombs and consoled myself in the fact that I am a damn OK knitter.

Letter to my SP9 Pal

Dear Pal,

Thank you for you words of wisdom on the sock yarn size. However, as you can see I am a glutton for punishment and was not able to heed your warning.."USE THE BIGGER YARN, LUKE!!" because I had already casted on for the Pomatoumusee sock.

As you can see from the last post it is going well, but as you predicted a little slow as my fingers are not yet made for size 1 DPNs. Luckily I am not actually making a sock this time, but instead making gloves. Which comes with its own challenges as I have never REALLY made a thumb gusset or fingers so instead of meeting the challenge head first, I have decided to do another pattern repeat to stave off the inevitable new techniques.

As for you suggestion of the All Things Heather Sock Yarn...you have got great taste my SP9. I loved all the colors she had! I have been lusting over them at the Loopy Ewe and plan to buy some BIGGER size yarn when I finish this sock/glove. Which at this rate may not be until the end of November as the Christmas knitting that I have not started is weighing heavy on my crafting soul.

Think I can finish 2 hats, 1 cabled scarf, 1 lacey shawl, 2 wristlets, 1 felted hat, 1 hat with short rows, and a pair of fingerless gloves?

Yeah me neither. And for all of you who said yes, you are the people who just can't look away from an accident waiting to happen. Don't get mad because I outed you! I too am one of many who would have said "yeah, do it!". Why? Because I am masochistic that way. It's a sickness people!!!

Ok SP9 Pal, just thought I would send you a little impersonal letter to say thanks for the suggestions and the comments.


EDIT: Dear SP9 pal, Per your question in my last post, I LOVE teas. I actually wanted to be a tea sommelier at one time in my life. I have only heard of two restaurants in the U.S. that have such a position but one can hope. My favorite flavor is Early Grey. But I like to experiment and try new flavors all the time. Hmmm...in fact I am going to have a cup right now. See!! My SP9 pal is full of inspiration.

Your SP9 Spoilee

Mr. Miyagi where are you!!

I need some Mr. Miyagi kung fu training for patience. I need to wax on and wax off to learn that rushing to the finish line is not the goal, but to enjoy the journey as well. Signs that I need help:

1) My Pomatomus Sock/Glove: working on size 1's was not the best idea for me. Given, I can do it and I AM doing it but second glove syndrome may be right around the corner.

But who can resist the calming waves of the Pomatomus Sock/Glove? BTW, I have not been able to say the name since I started always coming out Pomitomus or PomUtomuses or PAmotomus. Finally I decided to figure out what the Hell this was. On my way to finding the phoentic spelling of Pometonmuses. I found this picture:

With such a pretty pattern I imagined this to be a much prettier fish. Oh well, at least my sock/gloves look better than that fish.

2) Battlestar Galactica: I have fallen in love with this show ever since adnor got me hooked. Now the third season has started and I am without cable (have been for 2.5 years which is the first and longest period I have been without it). I am reliant on either my mom's TiVO or iTunes. Instead of waiting a week to see the episode, I instead paid $1.99 because I just couldn't wait!!

4) My sewing: I say this as though I have taken more than one class. I started the class on Monday. As the teacher was describing the various aprons we could make and their various skill levels. I picked one of the hardest ones, of the easy skill level that is, to try and do. Then she asked how much sewing I had done. Ummmm....

So after swallowing my overachiever nature, I settle for one of the two she had mentioned for my skill level (read: no sewing skill at all). But I vowed to myself that I would get the apron done AND make the potholder DAMN IT!!

3) My driving: I probably drive too fast. Given I do have good reflexes and can anticipate the stupid moves of other drivers (this comes from years of video game play). But sometimes I find myself yelling at people in my car because they are driving the speed limit when no one else is. I can't believe that I am yelling at them for obeying the law. Makes me sad to think this as I speed past them leaving them in the dust.

So patience is a virtue that I do not possess and if Mr. Miyagi was here I would be waxing cars for quite some time. But until then I expect that age will temper my impatience.

Now when is that sock/glove going to be done....ERRRR!!!

The Sock Yarn List

First I have to say thanks to my SP9 spoiler for the wonderful welcome. I wait eagerly in anticipation. No pressure, since I often do. I just love mail.

I also sent a little special welcome for my SP9 spoilee. They were very happy to have such a special welcome which made me glad. I hope I am a good SP9 pal.

Ok, so on another front, I have gone ga ga over sock yarn ...really this post is more for me than for you. Over the past few weeks I have been lusting over sock yarns. I love seeing the beautiful sock pictures from brooklyntweed and bitter purl so much that I have been a little inspired. Given I have been inspired before and never followed through so I am not promising sock pictures any time soon. But I thought I would compile a list of yarns created by bloggers and blogged about by fellow bloggers so that I can actually find these places again when the mood hits. If you have any yarns that you just love, leave a comment so that I can check it out.

Also, since I currently have not experience with sock yarns, this is not in order of priority and any excluded yarns are for lack of knowledge as opposed to lack of love. If I actually get some of these and use them, I will add some comments for other newbie sock knitters in search of a good list of yarns.

In the meantime, I will add an asterisk to each yarn that receives a positive comment from someone who has bought or worked with it. Check out the comments section for what they have to say.

The Sock Yarn List (Updated: 10/21)

Sundara Yarn**
All Things Heather*
Sunshine Yarn's*
Yarn Pirate*
Sweet Georgia*
Yarntini*
Piece of Beauty
Vesper Yarn
Socks That Rock
Ideal Sock*
The Sweet Sheep (A one stop sock shop)
The Loopy Ewe*(A one stop sock shop)

Please God Make My Fingers Move Faster...

Because there is just too much to knit!!

Interweave Winter 2006 preview is up and I have some new must knits. The list keeps growing...

The Damage is Done...

Now I do realize that I was kinda asking for help in vain. 1) It is was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and most people are out an about, not blogging about needing to stay at home and 2) my plea for help was kinda like asking practicing alcoholics to be your AA sponsor. I am not saying that knit blogger don't have control or drink heavily, I am just saying that going to the knitting world and complaining about yarn was just not the best of ideas.

So, because I am weak are now the first to see my new stash enhancements.

New Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006



I have been waiting for this for weeks. I thought I would have to wait until Tuesday but behold, Yarn Lady had it. The patterns I previewed are still the ones I liked the best. The other are not really that great in my opinion.

3 balls of Koigu KPM -



These are for the Mermaid Gloves by Craftoholic which is an adaptation of the Pomatomus sock. Since the Fetching gloves don't need to be done until December, these are going to be casted on for today.

3 wooden cable needles and size 1 DPN



I was pretty excited about these as since one of my SnB group members and fellow knit blogger mentioned these to me. I almost forgot about them until I was shopping around and saw them. Perfect timing since I am working on the Fetching gloves which have cabling involved.

I also bought some cheapy Susan Bates double pts so I could get started on the gloves.

Internet buys

To top it off the knitting accumulation spree, I also placed an order for Knitpicks needles mentioned in last post and a copy of Hip Graphic Knits

Unrelated Shopping

In addition to the knitting haul I also stopped at Ross and did some shopping. It wasn't too bad, just some stuff for work. The funny part was that I was also looking for a shirt to match my new yarn. I did find a great dress though. Anyone who knows me has fainted in disbelief as I don't wear dresses but I think it will also look great with jeans underneath. That will be the closest I have come to a dress since graduating from high school (read: a long time).

So all in all my wallet is lighter but so are my spirits...thanks yarn.

S.O.S - I Need an Intervention

Thank you all for you wonderful comments on my Sunrise Circle Jacket both here on my blog and on Craftster. I have never had such compliments showered upon my knitting. I am such a sucker for a compliment and I have to admit that I am smiling from ear to ear like a proud momma.

This leads me to my next problem. The need for yarn. It came over me late last night while knitting the first of two Fetching gloves and trying to figure out what to do with my Saturday. With no plans on the horizon the thought of the Yarn Lady popped into my head.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed (actually it was pretty quiet because this is still all in my head) because Yarn Lady = potential bankruptcy. I would go in search of sock yarn only to find more things to buy. I might even actually be good enough to escape with nothing and then that brings me to the internet.

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed again. Because my desire for more of the Knitpicks Options Needles is just as great as my need for more Elann Yarn - Baby Cashmere and the new color cards for Sierra Aran and Pure Alpaca. I am on a sinking ship here. One that is already filled with cotton, wool, and various other fibers that are already in my stash. I need an intervention because I obviously do not have the strength to help myself.

Something has got to give...and it's probably going to be my wallet. Send help soon!

America's Next Top Model meets Sunrise Circle Jacket

So since I could not find a stand-in with the proper build I had to be the model. I have to give props to those who take such great pictures modeling their knits. I am much better behind the camera but I gave it a go. I have to thank my friend Syl for taking such great shots. Here are my America's Next Top Model submissions where you can see all sides and the back shaping.

Finished Object: Sunrise Circle Jacket

Yarn: Elann Highland Peruvian Wool - Harvest Heather
Inspiration: IWK Sunrise Circle Jacket
Needles: Size 7
Yardage: 10.5 Balls
Modifications: Knitted the Hem as I went for the sleeves and bottom of the back
Enjoyment Factor: 8
The Good: Loved the construction of this jacket, it was amazing to watch it come together. I also liked that the sleeves and the front were knitted as one piece so you didn't have to seam and it felt like I finished so much faster
The Bad: The nothing much. Guess I could say the M1L and M1R kinda got tedious after a while. I have to say that my KnitPicks Options Needles saved the day because they are so sharp they make this a lot easier.
The Ugly: My seaming. This was the first time I had to really do any serious seaming and my mattress stitching, although easy, started to become a little crooked toward the end, I had to make up for it with some MacGyver techniques. But you can't really see it so its okay. My crocheted loop aren't the best either. I may have to redo them sooner or later
Knit Time: September 12 - October 11




I loved this pattern. It kept me going for one month straight. I couldn't wait to finish. In fact I nearly killed myself in the pursuit. The construction of this was ingenious and well written for even the novice knitter. I have to say that all the tips given by my fellow SCJ KAL members was indispensable. There were warnings of the sleeves being too long and that worried me throughout the process, especially because my gauge was not quite perfect. But I said my prayers to the patron saint of knitting (is there one?) and kept my needles going in the hope that this would not be my first and possibly last knit sweater. However, it all worked out in the end and I couldn't have planned for a better fit. You can check out the modeled photos here.

The Details




The buttons were a bit of a trial. I had originally planned to use some stone buttons that one of the SnB members makes, but since she would not be at SnB this week I was possessed with finding a replacement. 2 hours in JoAnn's later I found the perfect substitute. These buttons are a great match in my opinion. The placement was a little more trial and error but finally came together nicely.

The knitted hem was ingenious. I would have hated to do all that seaming post-knit so the knitted hem was an answer to my prayers. It came together like butter as my needles slid through each stitch marrying it together. Can't wait to do it again!

I have to say that I love my first finished sweater. I have already worn it this morning but it is a little too hot to be sporting it all day. It is a little fuzzy due to the heathered yarn but seems to stand up pretty well so far. Next will be to get in action photos to show the fit, but no promises on when that will happen since photographers are scarce in my world.

Next Knit: Fetching gloves